Monthly Archives: February 2018

On the occasion of ‘Dhulandi’ – the Holi Festival of colour, Amer Fort of Jaipur as well as Jantar Mantar will open in the afternoon from 03.00 pm to 05.00 pm post Dhulandi celebrations.

It is a great news for the tourists who are planning their visit to Jaipur to witness the festival of colours along with its historical monuments and forts. Amer and Jantar Mantar are the monuments of great historical significance and are on the ‘UNESCO World Heritage Sites’ list.

Looking at the travel plans of numerous tourists , who are planning to mark their Holi in Jaipur, the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Rajasthan has decided upon opening the Amer Fort and Jantar Mantar post noon.

Dance, music and colours are awaiting your arrival at the most happening colourful festival of the season, Holi. The land of colours through Rajasthan Tourism Beat brings to you a tremendous number of Holi parties where you can make your Holi-days worthwhile. So guys and girls, get ready to let your hair down and groove your moves on the musical beats of the most happening Holi celebrations in Rajasthan.

In the mood for some rain dance and live dhol where some extravagant Bollywood songs will be playing in the backdrop? This Holi party promises just that and much more. Snack on from the live food counters whilst you play with organic colours and water guns only at Heiwa Heaven. Book your tickets now : https://www.heiwaheaven.com/holi/

Come one, come all, and attend the most hip and happening Holi festival of the season. Let the colours shower on you while you dance on the extravagant music by one and only DJ BNU and DJ Maddy. Join in the colourful celebration now !

Celebrate the Holi day by wearing whites, vivacious vibes and trance tides with the biggest Holi Music Festival in town. Soak yourself into the vibrant music festival with DJ INDOMAFIA, PRASH, SYNC and Yash Tyagi in the lush green gardens of Narayan Singh Hotel with your friends!

Date: 2nd March

Venue: Hotel Narain Niwas Palace

Time: 9a.m. onwards

Rangarang

Fond of Rajasthani Folk dance and music? Enter the beautiful world of Rangarang, where you will witness Holi celebrations in full traditional form. Mark your calendars now !

This time celebrate the festival of Holi in style with elephants. There will be dance; there will be music and lot of competitions to keep you engaged throughout the festival. Enjoy the buffet lunch along with relishing thandai and enter the magical world of colours where elephants will be seen performing various sorts of acts right in front of you.

Date: 2ndMarch

Venue: Near Elephant Village, Jaipur

Time: 9a.m. onwards

6. Dhulandi Festival

Organised by the Department of Tourismof Rajasthan especially for tourists, Dhulandi Festival is a grand celebration of colours and water. Play with dry colours and water whilst you enjoy the stunning cultural performances by folk artists in Jaipur.

Udaipur Holi Fest is one of the biggest and the most colorful holi parties in the Lake City!
With rain dance, mud , live music, live food & unlimited fun, this is going to be your best holi party in Udaipur till date!

Date : 1st & 2nd March, 2018

Time:
1st march 6:00 PM – 10:30 PM
2nd march: 11.00 AM – 4.00 PM

Event Details contact :-8386999700,9529511234, 9460207571, 9252534656

8. Holi with Maharana of Udaipur

At The Royal City Palace, Udaipur, the Maharana of Mewar- Shree Arvind Singh Mewar presides over the Hindu festival of Holi. Attended by dignitaries, guests and foreign tourists. The Maharana arrives in a elaborate procession. A bonfire is lit, signifying the triumph of good over evil. Drums, folk dances and celebrations are followed by cocktails and an elaborate dinner and fireworks.

Dates: 1st and 2nd March, 2018

Venue: City Palace Udaipur

Image via Google

9. Holi in Braj, Bharatpur

The festival is celebrated for three days in the Braj region, which is situated in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. The area in and around the Braj is believed to be the region where Lord Krishna spent his childhood, playing pranks and showing many aspects of his transcendental activities. Local people don multi-colored, vibrant attires and celebrate by singing and dancing and emulating Raslila, depicting the divine love between Radha and Krishna.

The energy identified with festival can be seen manifesting the entire Bharatpurregion in the form of songs and dance and locals splashing colors on each other. People can be seen everywhere in high spirits and festive mood and all set to welcome Holi. Besides this, you should also not miss the Dolchi holi of Bikaner.

Date: 2nd March

Venue: Entire Braj region of Bharatpur and Bikaner

10. Pushkar’s “Kapda Faad” Holi

This is your chance to experience Holi in the most raw and traditional style in the land of Lord Brahma. The festival in Pushkar promises colors, music, food, and fun! The celebration of Holi in Pushkar brings together Indian and Western cultures. You can witness the internationally famous Kapda Faad Holi with participation from over 5000 foreigners, who will be dancing on the streets of Pushkar.

Whether it’s territorial clash between two grown up tigers or predatory pursuits or carcass gatherings of different animals, seasoned safaris in Ranthambhore National Park have notched up wildlife sightings we can’t imagine. Yet, if you ask us about that once-in-a-lifetime experience in the wild, it would be watching a mother tigress bringing her newborn cubs out in wilds just after 10 days. The T-84 (Machali Junior) gave birth to new cubs and they were first sighted in zone 2 of Ranthambhore Park on Thursday.

Image via Rajasthan Patrika

The mommy tigress in the rare image is showing the signs of recent birth. For the tigers, last few months of their pregnancy are a secret affair: they’ll usually isolate themselves to give birth in a sheltered, hidden spot, where the new arrivals are spirited away for the first four to six weeks of life. “Typically a big cat would move off on its own, give birth and only introduce her litters to open places when they are more capable of fending for themselves. But this is once in a lifetime experience. Currently, looking at the safety of the cubs, Tiger safari has been stopped at the national park.

But, be ready to witness more action as this summer will be exciting and full of frivolities of these young tigers as Ranthambhore’s Queen aka Arrow-Head will be seen roaming around with the new cubs.

The tourists visiting Jaipur will now get to see the marvels of ancient archeology at Nahargarh and Amer Fort of Jaipur. In an initiative by Department of Archaeology and Museum, which has tied up with “Heritage Water Walks”, tourists visiting these heritage sites can witness and understand the amazing water harvesting structures on request. As informed by the Director of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Rajasthan, Mr. Hridesh Sharma today, the 2-hour water walks both at Nahargarh and Amber are designed to understand the sacredness of water in Rajasthani culture and the wisdom of our ancestors. It uncovers the stories hidden in the majestic forts of Nahargarh and Amber Palace. The tourists may choose to enjoy a walk into jungle or witnessing the majestic grandeur of the forts. They may also choose to be amazed at the marvelousness of water technologies of past. Such walks are being conducted since 2015. The timings for these walks are : Nahargarh Fort (6 am to 5 pm); Amber Palace (8am to 5 pm – winters; 10 am to 5 pm – summers).

Nahargarh Fort Water Walk

The story of Nahargarh Water harvesting structures is also the story of ingenuity of Rajasthan society to innovate for all its needs. Built In 1734 during the reign of Sawai Jai Singh (1698-1740), the extensive water systems of Nahargarh is one of the most significant features of the fort. Water catchment for Nahargarh extends to about 6 kms surrounding the fort. A network of six closed catchments connects through small canals and aqueducts and drains are laid in and outside the fort. Small canals bring rainwater from the higher reaches of the hills. The bed of these canals is designed in such a way that it is on a gradient and also at the same time has an undulating course. Nahargarh has two large step wells (Bawri) and a smaller step well known as ‘Kund’. The large step wells receive water from the catchment in the surrounding hills. The ‘Kund’ receives rainwater harvested from the fort complex alone.

Amber Palace Water Walk

The story of Amber water lifting and harvesting structures is also equally ingenuous as that of Nahargarh. Water harvesting system here shows how the provision of water for large residences was made bearing in mind the refined water conservation mechanism and superior architectural practices of 16th century Rajputana. Raja Man Singh I built Amber Palace in 1599. It was further expanded for next 150 years by Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Jai Singh II until Jai Singh II decided to move the capital to newly built Jaipur City in 1743. The extensive water system of Amber Palace is one of the most significant features of the Palace. Amber palace has two sources of water – Maota Lake and rainwater harvesting within the palace. A series of six structures (buildings) lift water from Maota Lake all the way up to the fort through a complex relay system. Unlike rainwater harvesting system of Fort Nahargarh, which collects water from surrounding hills via extensive network of drains, Amber Palace uses a much more sophisticated mechanism to lift water few hundred feet above from Maota Lake.

Ever since the water walks have started a large number of Indian and foreign tourists, students, civil service officers, designer, architects, citizens of Jaipur and even renowned authors of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) have experienced the walk.

Museum of the Moon- an art installation of a replica of the moon in Udaipur

The renowned artist promoted by British Council- Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon is touring India all this month, and this Tuesday, the Museum of the Moon landed in Udaipur where it was showcased at the City Palace’s Moti Chowk. It stayed in the sky till Wednesday night i.e. Valentine’s Day, the promoters said. Numerous people of the Lake City and tourists were enthralled not only to see the ‘Moon’ so close but also to feel its magnificence. They posed in various positions, some danced, some pretended to hold it on palm and carry on shoulders, while others kissed under the massive structure and rejoiced.

The 23-feet wide replica of the moon has been made from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera in collaboration with UK Space Agency and University Of Bristol and the Association for Science and Discovery Centres.

Giving details of the artwork to media, country director of British Council Alan Gemmell said, “2018 marks the 70 years of the organization in India and the end of the UK-India Year of Culture. We have been inspired everyday of the last 7 decades by the artists, students, scientists and policy makers we’ve worked across India”.

The Museum of Moon has so far traveled to 30 countries and this month it is touring India. Five surprise destinations had been chosen for its public display. After Bangluru and Mumbai, Udaipur is the third city where it has come, Alan informed. The Museum of Moon is half a million times smaller than the real moon- meaning one centimeter of it represents 5 kilometers of lunar surface.

Rajasthan’s popular heritage mansion of Jaipur, Diggi Palace is all set to host yet another event that will make the city go crazy about it. There will be lights, decorations, food and how can we forget the mesmerizing hidden gems from all around the globe, who will present their treasures in Rajasthan’s capital city Jaipur for the first time. Hidden Treasures is a lifestyle exhibition that will leave you with no choice but only to shop, shop and shop.

Lifestyle, trends, accessories and fashion, no these are not the only things that Hidden Treasuresis about. It is a lifestyle exhibition that is much more massive and unique in itself that you will witness for the first time in Jaipur. Experience the show that has fun-frolic activities in store for the non-shoppers in you.

A fan of music and can’t say a no to your friend to accompany her for this extravagant lifestyle exhibition, then don’t hesitate because open mic and live music sessions are there to accompany you. Hidden Treasures has been curated keeping you in mind as well, and they will offer the best live music and open mic sessions along with night band performance.

No show is complete without food and Hidden Treasureswill bring to you scrumptious delights that will leave the taste in your mouth forever. Mouth-watering sherbet, tangy chaat and melt-in-the-mouth desserts will make you fall in love with them and no one can stop you to take loads of bags of these delicacies home.

Guys and girls this exhibition is like no ordinary one and it is definitely not only for the shoppers, but also for the entertainment enthusiasts that is present inside you.

Shiva being one of the 3 gods of the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh,Mahashivratriis a big festival in India. Shiva with a crescent on his head, the holy Ganga flowing out of his hair, snake around his neck, a Trishul in one hand and a Damru in the other, flying hair and dancing as ‘Natraja’ is a symbolic representation of the Universe or the 5 elements of Nature. In Shiva temples, it is depicted as a ‘ Shivalinga’ which is the ‘Shiva Tattva’ or the God particle.

Jaipur with its 3500 old temples (over at least 100 years old) is endearingly called ‘Choti Kashi’ & undoubtedly has its own tradition of celebrating Mahashivratri in the city.

Though the whole city would be celebrating the festival, If you happen to be in Jaipur on the 13th of February, we have a list of temples for you to visit on Mahashivratri and celebrate the day with Jaipur.

1. Eklingeshwar Temple, Moti Doongri:

Atop the ‘Moti Dungri’ temple, it forms a beautiful skyline to the new Jaipur city. This beautiful temple located inside the Moti dungri hill is accessible to the public only once a year on Mahashivaratri.Be there early morning as the queue to reach the temple gets really long, really fast. The devotees will flock temples to bathe the Shivlinga with water, milk, and honey; offer bel-leaves, and take a vow for purification of the soul.

2. Gaiteshwar Temple, Bramhapuri near Gaitore ki Chattriyan–

image courtesy- google

Located in Gaitore ki Chattriyan, Gaiteshwar Mahadevis a popular Shiva Temple in Jaipur. During Mahashivratri a large crowd of devotees comes here to worship Lord Shiva. Also, a big classical Bhajan evening would be organized here by the Gaiteshwar Kala Sansthan on Mahashivartri, invoking lord Shiva.

3. Ambikeshwar Mahadev Temple, Amer, Jaipur–

This temple situated in the Amer Fort of Jaipur holds great religious importance in Jaipur. To reach the temple one has to climb down steps as this is one of the few temples situated below the ground level. It is believed that the Shivling here is a natural one which was founded buried 22ft under the earth.

The legend has it the King Kankil Dev had a cow that gave milk only at this particular spot on the hill. The King then decided to get the place excavated. During the excavation a Shivling was found, the temple was thus constructed & the Shivling lies at the same place, devotees have to peek inside to see the Shivlinga which is now encased by a circular hole. It is believed during the monsoon season, the Shivlinga submerges in 10ft water.

4. Tarkeshwar Mahadev, Temple, Chaura Rasta –

One of the oldest temples in the pink city is Tarkeshwar Ji Temple Chora Rasta which was built in 1784 A.D with a Black stone of 9” diameter.

One of the main attractions here includes an imposing statue of Shiva Lingam and golden pictographs along with huge bull statue made of brass, large bronze gongs and beautiful bells.

5. Pracheen Bhavya Dwadash Jyotirling Temple, Amer, Jaipur –

One of the old temples of Jaipur, it is located ahead of Ambikeshwar temple in Amer, near the Jagat Shiromani Temple. As you walk up the ramp and then the steps to the temple, you enter a beautiful courtyard which houses a small marble shiva linga guarded by a copper snake, marble Nandi, and a Trishul-damru. A small dried tree almost fans over it in the shape of a snake.

As you move inside the inner sanctum of the Temple, idols of goddess Parvati, lord Ganesha, and a beautiful marble Shivaling with chaturmukh Shiva is seen in the temple. A very peaceful temple to visit.

6. Kala Mahadev Temple, Jaipur – Surrounded by Aravalli Hills, Kala Mahadev Temple is unlike any other Shiva Temple in Jaipur, It is believed that Maharaja Man Singh ordered the construction of this temple following all the Tantric rituals. Open from all four sides, this holy shrine is known for offers a beautiful view of the Jaipur city. The Shivlinga is the presiding idol here along with a statue of Nandi, Goddess Parvati, God Ganesha and Kartikeya. The nearby Kanak Valley and Kanak Vrindavanmake the temple extremely peaceful & blissful to visit.

A large number of devotees observe a strict fast on the day sans food and water to absolve them of all the sins by penance. This festival is celebrated by both men & women of the Hindu community. After fasting for the whole day, they devotedly pray to the God. Married women perform the rituals for the well-being of their husbands. Unmarried girls perform these rituals to get a good husband like Lord Shiva. Few people fast without food or water, while others fast eating only bananas & milk.

Some of the Lord Shiva temples observe Jaagaran during the whole night of Mahashivaratri. Only after daybreak, the various foods offered to the Lord are eaten by the devotees as ‘Prasad’.